FOR SENATOR OBAMA: +28 (-3 for Clinton)
Tennessee Governor Mark Bredesen had promised yesterday to endorse Senator Obama today, along with two other Tennessee superdelegates, and hold a "unity event" on behalf of the party.
You may recall Governor Bredesen as the originator of the proposed "superdelegate conference" in the beginning of May, should the superdelegates not push a candidate over the threshold to become the nominee.
Bredesen was joined in Nashville by Gray Sasser and Inez Crutchfield, two fellow Tennessee superdelegates from the state party in his announcement.
Tennessee has three more uncommitted superdelegates: Lincoln Davis, Bart Gordon, and some guy name Al Gore.
Two of the US Senators leading the way in the push for all uncommitted Senators to get behind Obama were Ken Salazar of Colorado and Tom Harkin of Iowa (note: Obama won both swing states handily). Although the package deal of Senators has yet to materialize, both Salazar and Harkin decided today to make their support for Senator Obama public.
Another Senator, Tom Cardin of Maryland, also endorsed Obama today. In an interesting note, Cardin implied that two fellow Maryland superdelegates in the Clinton column--Barbara Mikulski (Senator) and Martin O'Malley (Governor)--would also work to support Obama as well. In the article, Cardin also showed that he was an implicit member of the "Pelosi Club":
Cardin, a superdelegate, had been waiting for the completion of the final primary to declare his support. He said he believed the job of superdelegates was to not to decide the outcome of the race but rather to monitor and ratify the primary process.
"I have not announced my endorsement before this time because I believe strongly in the electoral process and in giving Democrats from across this nation the right to determine who should be our Party's presidential nominee."
Joining Senator Ken Salazar in his endorsement of Obama were two fellow Colorado superdelegates and Congressmen, John Salazar and Mark Udall.
Mark Udall's cousin Tom Udall--this one the last of the New Mexico superdelegates, Congressman (and Senate Candidate)--has also officially announced for Obama. Tom Udall had credited his neutrality during the primary season to the fact that Clinton won the state while Obama won his district.
Congressman Chris Van Hollen, Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, has also stepped forward to endorse Senator Obama. Van Hollen earlier seemed to have tipped his hand by commenting in February about his belief that "every superdelegate has to really take into consideration the judgment of the American people and the elected delegates, meaning those who are pledged, as we reach a decision."
Despite this seeming support for the Pelosi Club rationale, Van Hollen refused to endorse at that time.
"I made it clear early on that I wasn't going to take any position in the
presidential primary," said Van Hollen. "Because we work -- we the DCCC -- very
closely with both presidential campaigns, both the Hillary Clinton campaign and
the Barack Obama campaign. And of course, we look forward to working with the
eventual nominee to make sure that that new president has a strong Democratic
majority in the House to work with. Because of that I have not yet taken a
position."
From the Garden State, New Jersey, comes two new superdelegate endorsements as well. Senator Frank Lautenberg and Congressman Rush Holt have both agreed to support Senator Obama.
Another Distinguished Party Leader is backing Obama, and this time it's Walter Mondale, the former Vice President from Minnesota, who has switched from Clinton to Obama.
In somewhat surprising news, a trio of Pennsylvania Congressmen--Mike Doyle, Jason Altmire and Bob Brady--have announced that they would also endorse Senator Obama. Careful not to expose themselves politically in a state that went handily for Senator Clinton, each of these congressmen waited until the nomination became a formality before endorsing. In fact, Altmire went so far as to say that this was not an endorsement as much as getting behind the Democratic nominee for the Party.
In a defection from the Clinton campaign, Utah superdelegate Karen Hale announced her switch to supporting Senator Obama. Of interest in another article is that two other members of the Utah "superdelegation" are still undecided about their final plans--Congressman Jim Matheson wants to wait and see what Obama and Clinton decide on the end of the race, and Clinton supporter Helen Langan may end up switching to Obama in the end.
Both Langan and Hale had both given a signal that their support of Clinton might switch at some time in the future to Obama depending on how the race unfolded.
A previously uncommitted add-on delegate from Arizona, Terry Goddard, has finally announced his support for Obama as well, months after Clinton won the state and weeks after Goddard was selected as the add-on delegate. Goddard was the last Arizona superdelegate to make a decision public.
Four more US Senators made their decisions for Obama known today as well.
The other US Senators were California Senator Barbara Boxer, Delaware Senator Tom Carper, Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu, and Oregon Senator Tom Wyden, who all appeared with Cardin, Harkin, Salazar and Lautenberg to make their announcement as a gesture of unity behind Senator Obama's candidacy.
Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold also made his announcement for Obama today, after months of speculation driven by his leaking of his vote for Obama in the Wisconsin primary.
Maine Congressman Michael Michaud also endorsed Obama today, after originally endorsing John Edwards months ago and then becoming neutral after Edwards dropped out of the race.
Rounding out the list of endorsements for Senator Obama today are the following superdelegates:
David Strauss (North Dakota)
Paula Zellner (Wisconsin). Zellner is a campaign field director for Senator Russ Feingold.
Ed Cote (Washington) and Sharon Mast (Washington)
FOR SENATOR CLINTON: +2 (-1 for Obama)
In a surprising move, another Senator, South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson, decided to switch from OBAMA to CLINTON! This move was precipitated by Senator Clinton's win in his home state last night, which Senator Johnson had said would drive his vote.
This, despite the fact that Johnson admitted that he voted for Obama in the primary and endorsed Obama in January. Sounds from the interview that Johnson got himself into a bind thinking Obama was going to win the state and then being forced to welch on that promise after Clinton won the state. Johnson is committed to Clinton as long as she is in the race--which means when Clinton drops out he'll go back to supporting Obama.
Clinton also picked up another superdelegate from South Dakota today--Cheryl Chapman.
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